Key to His Heart
by Thermopyle
Summary: Who was the woman who helped Ranma the first time he went into the cat-fist? What if he made another friend after leaving Ukyou behind? Chapter 1 finally added.
1. Prologue

Ranma belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm not sure who Key: The Metal Idol  
belongs to. Somebody tell me!  
  
This occurs when Ranma is six, shortly after he and Genma left Ukyou.  
Key is six years old also. I'm aware that she was younger in the anime  
when the events at the beginning of her story occurred. Those events  
have been pushed aside for the time being so that I can write the story  
in the way I want to. Instead they happen after what is described here.  
Everything but her age at the time is still the same.  
  
So, here we go:  
  
Key to His Heart: Prologue  
By Thermopyle (thermopyle@tds.net)  
  
#####  
  
Genma wrapped the fish-sausage around Ranma, ignoring the tears in the  
boy's eyes and looking disapprovingly at the scratches and cuts that  
covered his son. Ranma was going to learn the cat-fist technique, and  
that was all there was to it. If the boy had been paying attention  
instead of screaming his fool head off about how scared he was and how  
much it hurt he probably would have learned it by now. Instead, Genma  
was forced to keep running off and stealing more and more cat food  
because his son was lazy. They'd been out here all day and it was  
already getting dark! It just wouldn't do.  
  
"Now, son," he said, "I know this is hard but you must learn it! You  
want to become a great martial artist, don't you? Are you trying to let  
me and your mother down by acting like a weak, whining little girl?"  
  
Ranma looked away from him, at the fish-sausages draped about his body.  
"No, Papa. But the ca-cats are scary! And, And..."  
  
"Nonsense, my boy! The cats are more afraid of you than you are of  
them, now just get down there and learn it! No more complaining, get to  
it!" Genma finished by pushing his son into the pit.  
  
After a few minutes of unmanly shrieking and yowling noises there was  
silence. Genma stepped up to the edge of the hole and looked down,  
searching for his son in the darkness.  
  
"Ranma," he called down hopefully, "did you learn it yet?"  
  
Suddenly something jumped up at him, moving so fast that he could see  
nothing but a blur, and he was knocked back, falling down in surprise.  
Looking down he saw that his gi was in shreds and that he had light cuts  
across his now bare chest.  
  
In front of him Ranma perched at the edge of the pit, hunched over on  
his hands and knees. Blood dripped from his mutilated face and hands,  
his clothes were in pieces, and there was no trace of sanity upon his  
face. His eyes shone red as he glared malevolently at his father,  
hissing in eerily cat-like fury.  
  
Genma grinned happily. Ranma had finally learned the cat-fist! He  
started to climb to his feet, wanting to test the boy's defenses and see  
how effective the technique was, when Ranma leapt forward and clawed at  
him again, lines of red light flaring from his fingers. Genma jumped  
back, barely escaping the swipe, and gaped in surprise. That had been a  
ki attack! Ranma, only six, was doing something most people took years  
to master!  
  
Forget sparring, it was time to celebrate!  
  
Unfortunately his son was of a different mind.  
  
#####  
  
Genma woke in incredible pain. His whole body was battered, covered in  
cuts and bruises. His clothes were in tatters, hanging loosely in  
strips about him where they weren't stuck to his bulky frame by dried  
blood.  
  
What had possessed Ranma to act like that? Sure, the boy might not have  
liked the training, but it'd worked, right? So what was the problem?  
Genma had tried everything short of the forbidden techniques in an  
attempt to defeat his son, but nothing had worked. Ranma should be  
happy, proud to have been taught such a fearsome attack! Instead, he  
repaid his poor father with abuse!  
  
Ranma hadn't even been content to just beat him, instead the  
disrespectful brat had toyed with him, using his new technique to an  
unfair advantage as he moved too quickly for Genma to maintain a  
defense. Every time he'd thought the boy would strike at one side Ranma  
had blurred, appearing elsewhere and making a few painful, paper-thin  
scratches before Genma could retreat.  
  
It had continued forever, it seemed like, until Ranma had suddenly  
looked towards the village for some reason, and took off in that  
direction. Finally able to sit down and rest, Genma had collapsed in  
relief. But now where was his son?  
  
Sighing heavily, then wincing at the pain, he began the walk back to the  
village, named Mamioda. Thankfully Mamioda was very small, so it  
shouldn't be too hard to find his son. The town's size was the very  
reason they had chosen it, in fact.  
  
Training in the cat-fist had seemed likely to attract the authorities in  
a more populated area since people probably wouldn't understand the  
sacrifices that had to be made in the name of training. So he'd looked  
for a fairly remote location to teach Ranma the technique at, even  
though it would make finding enough cats much harder.  
  
And the fool boy had still attacked him! Ungrateful brat!  
  
#####  
  
Genma trudged up the steps leading to the shrine. He'd been searching  
for hours and still hadn't found Ranma. None of the villagers had seen  
the boy, but one of them suggested checking here at the temple. The man  
had also said something about the priestess having weird abilities but  
he was probably just making things up. Women didn't have that kind of  
power.  
  
Instead, they carried swords. He shuddered.  
  
When he finally reached the top of the stairs, he stopped in surprise.  
The shrine was a small, tidy looking thing, well made and maintained,  
but it wasn't what attracted his attention.  
  
Ranma was running around, chasing some redheaded girl. They were both  
giggling as they played tag and Ranma was keeping his speed down to the  
girl's level instead of just tagging her then moving away too quickly  
for her to catch up as he usually would. Normally he'd be dancing out  
of reach whenever somebody tried to tag him, using insults to drive them  
to faster movement. That was the way Genma had taught him to do such  
things, to turn everything into a competition and a challenge to master.  
  
Today, though, he was just playing. Ranma was so absorbed in having fun  
with this little girl that he'd completely forgotten to pay attention to  
his surroundings; he clearly had no idea that his father was watching.  
  
Deciding that he'd puzzle out the reason for it later, wanting to just  
take his son and go rest somewhere, Genma called out, "Ranma! Come on,  
we're going!"  
  
As soon as Ranma heard his voice, he whipped about in surprise. When he  
saw his father he crouched down again, mimicking the stance from before,  
and his eyes glowed red once again.  
  
"Dammit boy! I'm not in any mood for more games! We can spar later,  
now lets go!" Genma yelled irritably. He did NOT feel well and dealing  
with Ranma's new technique right now was exactly what he didn't want to  
do.  
  
Ignoring him, Ranma bound forward to attack. Genma took up a defensive  
stance, swearing to himself that he was never going to teach the fool  
boy another technique again.  
  
Suddenly, a new voice called out.  
  
"Ranma! Come here, Ranma."  
  
Blinking in surprise when his son ran off, four-legged style, Genma  
turned to see the new arrival and gasped. She was a stunning woman with  
long black hair streaming past her shoulders. She was dressed in the  
garb of a priestess and obviously lived here, her serene spirit seeming  
to fill the area around them. She had a gentle, loving smile on her  
face as she watched Ranma run towards her, and when he jumped into the  
air she caught him easily, not budging at all under his fast-moving  
weight.  
  
He purred, held in her arms, as she carried him over to the entrance of  
the shrine. When she sat down on the steps the little girl Ranma had  
been playing with, the woman's daughter, apparently, ran over to them  
with a big grin and began ruffling Ranma's hair and scratching the back  
of his head. The woman smiled at her then looked up at Genma.  
  
"Are you his father?" she asked. Even her voice was beautiful!  
  
"Yeah," he stammered in reply. There was just something about this  
woman that made him incredibly nervous. No-chan looked great, but this  
woman...  
  
"Yes," he repeated. "He's my son. Who're you?"  
  
She ignored the question, and said, "Did you know that you drove him  
mad? He thought he was a cat. He was about to kill you last night when  
I sensed him and drew him to me. He would have tried again right now if  
I hadn't stopped him."  
  
Genma laughed. "He was just showing off a new technique! He'll calm  
down after a while. But he and I need to get going, so if you'd mind  
putting him down?" He stepped forward impatiently, then stopped when  
Ranma hissed and glared at him, eyes flaring red with rage. The little  
girl yelped in surprise and drew back her hand hurriedly.  
  
"Shhh, it's okay Ranma," said the woman. Ranma relaxed slightly in  
response but still gazed at his father warily.  
  
"If he goes with you now," she said, "he will kill you and never regain  
his sanity. He needs to stay here for a while so I can help him."  
  
Genma scowled. "Now you just wait a minute! I don't know what you're  
trying to pull, but that's my son and you aren't stealing him!" Looking  
at the little girl suspiciously, he added, "And he's already engaged,  
too, so don't think you can have him marry your daughter!" Although if  
she was willing to make a deal...  
  
The woman just looked at him calmly for a moment, then glanced down at  
Ranma and said, "Very well. I will show you."  
  
With that, she pulled one of her hands out from under Ranma then pointed  
it at Genma. He looked on disdainfully, expecting her to try some kind  
of hocus-pocus like the villager he'd talked to earlier had mentioned.  
He didn't react in time when a purple glow shot out from her hand.  
  
When it hit, his world dissolved into foreign memories driving into his  
mind like glass shards. Images of yellow eyes, claws and sharp teeth  
assailed him. Pain flared into being, his body howling at him in dismay  
as he felt his skin rip and shred under the onslaught. He flailed  
about, trying to protect himself, but the attack continued.  
  
Burning lines of agony ran across his face, driving him to panic with  
the close proximity to his eyes. A claw punctured the cartilage of his  
nose and stuck, and the cat screamed in fury as it tried to unhook  
itself from his head. He whipped his head about, trying to shake the  
beast free, but it remained fastened to his face.  
  
Other cats swarmed over him, scratching and clawing as they tried to get  
to the fish-sausages. His arms, legs, groin, neck, everything was being  
attacked. He tried to fight back, smashing his limbs against the floor  
and walls of the pit in an attempt to kill the cats. There were too  
many, when one fell away, beaten to death or unconsciousness, another  
took its place, demanding food.  
  
His anger and terror grew. He shoved the pain aside, blocked off the  
sensation of blood trailing down his face and limbs as the cats ripped  
into him. He was going to fight back. He reached out and began  
grasping the necks of the cats about him, yanking their heads viscously,  
ripping them from their bodies. He punched and kicked at the cats,  
crushing them beneath his hands and feet. He ripped the cat still stuck  
to his face away, then smashed it's head between his hands. But still  
there were more and more.  
  
He fell into a violent frenzy, no longer consciously attacking specific  
cats but rather attempting to take them all on at once, like some  
drunken brawler. The cats began to crawl away from him, crippled and  
near dead, but still there were many left. His terror was gone now, it  
had followed the pain, crushed beneath his fury much like the cats he  
was fighting. His anger consumed him, fed by the orgasmic experience of  
killing the enemy.  
  
Everything blurred into red.  
  
#####  
  
Genma's eyes shot open. His breathing was ragged, panicked, his chest  
heaving in an attempt to keep up with his racing heart. His nerves were  
afire with remembered agony. His hands, still aching, trailed about his  
face and body checking for injuries. There were none.  
  
He was still standing before the shrine, the same place he had been  
while talking to the woman. She was still there, sitting at the steps,  
but the children were gone now.  
  
He drew a deep, shuddering breath. "What was that?" he asked hoarsely.  
  
She looked at him, angry now. "That was what you did to your son. You  
drove him mad. If I hadn't been nearby nothing could have stopped him.  
He would have lived the rest of his life thinking he was a cat, and you  
would be dead. You're 'technique' almost ruined your son's life.  
  
"But he looked fine," Genma insisted. "He was running around with your  
little girl without a scratch on him!"  
  
"Yes. He is fine physically; I healed him last night after he arrived.  
But otherwise... Even now, after I've done my best to block out his  
anger and the separate, cat-like personality you forced upon him, he  
could easily return to insanity. Just seeing you made him think of the  
pit you threw him into, and that's all it took to push him over the  
edge. It's likely that just seeing cats from now on will do the same.  
  
"For all that you don't deserve him, I can't keep a child from his  
father. But Ranma is staying here with me for a month. After that you  
can take him back. Until then you are unwelcome in my shrine and are to  
stay out of Ranma's sight. Now, be gone."  
  
With that, she turned around and went inside, leaving Genma still  
staring at where she had been. After a minute he sighed then started  
making his way back down the stairs.  
  
#####  
  
Over the next few weeks Genma spent much of his time watching his son  
from up in the trees surrounding the shrine. Ranma spent all of his  
time running around playing with the little girl he called 'Key-chan'.  
No time was spent practicing martial arts.  
  
Several times Genma was tempted to simply grab the boy and run. There  
were many opportunities, occasions where Ranma was all alone outside  
without the little girl or the priestess in sight. But he could always  
feel her presence, like someone watching him from concealment, hidden  
too well to be found. When she was in sight, sometimes she would turn  
and look directly at him, as if she knew exactly where he was, before  
turning her attention back to the kids.  
  
A month after being told to wait Ranma played alone outside. The fool  
boy was imagining himself to be some noble samurai on a quest to save  
the princess, an idea that was common in the games he and the girl  
enjoyed. For once the woman's presence seemed muted, absent.  
  
Genma grabbed his son and ran.  
  
#####  
  
From inside the shrine Toyoko Mimo watched, holding her sobbing daughter  
as Ranma was taken away. Tokiko was crying because she was sure she  
would never see the only friend she'd ever had again. Toyoko believed  
she was right but just rocked her baby gently, saying nothing.  
  
She hoped she was doing the right thing in allowing Ranma's father to  
take him. The man was an idiot, and a danger to his son, but she still  
couldn't justify stealing the boy from his father. However much she  
might wish otherwise.  
  
Ranma should be okay though. His cat persona had been almost completely  
sealed up and he no longer reverted back into it upon seeing his father  
or trying to use martial arts. He would, however, be scared of cats for  
the rest of his life. Prolonged exposure to one would probably trigger  
the cat-fist but enough of the boy's sanity would remain to keep him  
from killing anybody.  
  
Her only real concern was if the rage that had pushed Ranma over the  
edge were to return, he might lose himself to the cat-fist again  
completely. Thankfully, it was unlikely that would ever happen since  
fear would be the pervading emotion were he to be in such a situation.  
That poor boy.  
  
Toyoko looked down at her now slumbering daughter, who was curled into  
her lap and clutching at her Shinto garb with delicate little fists, and  
sighed.  
  
  
To be continued.  



	2. Chapter One

Ranma belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Key: The Metal Idol written and  
created by Hiroaki Sato, and owned by some companies.  
  
Key to His Heart: Chapter One  
by Thermopyle (thermopyle@tds.net)  
  
#####  
  
Ranma raced along the fence-tops, slipper-clad feet balancing easily  
upon the thin wooden surface as he used his formidable skills to keep  
his burden from becoming upset. The fact that this was the last  
delivery for the night was a mixed blessing. He would no longer have to  
put up with the glomps Shampoo gave him whenever he returned to the  
Nekohanten, which while less forceful and somewhat hesitant due to his  
being in his girl form, were still extremely annoying, especially when  
Mousse would try to attack in retaliation for 'trying to steal his  
love'. On the other hand, going home to the Tendous was likely to be  
fairly painful, since Akane would be quick to punish him for spending  
the whole day 'flirting' with Shampoo, and that he was doing it while  
female made the situation even more perverted. Still, it was better  
than the alternative.  
  
Cologne had pretty much blackmailed him into serving as a delivery girl  
over the last few days since three people were needed to run the  
Nekohanten at full steam; one person to cook, a second person to wait on  
the restaurant customers, and a third person to make deliveries. As the  
old ghoul had said, a large portion of their business was in deliveries  
and since she had to go and deal with some kinda Amazon matter they  
needed to have an extra person to help out. Otherwise, they would have  
to close for the period of time that she would be gone, due to the much-  
decreased cost effectiveness the restaurant would suffer with only two  
workers. When Ranma had said he didn't really care if they shut down,  
she told him that if he didn't want to play delivery-girl that would be  
perfectly fine as well, since it would give Shampoo some free time to  
spend with her husband. He'd quickly agreed, knowing that one beating  
by Akane after a day of being hugged by Shampoo would be better than  
being malleted numerous times during the day as Akane actually SAW the  
hugs. At least Cologne had insisted that he make the deliveries while  
in his girl form, since their customers were used to a pretty girl  
arriving at their doorstep with bowls full of ramen and a heaving chest  
from trying to catch her breath, which gave him an excuse to use it to  
keep Shampoo from being too pushy throughout the day.  
  
Still, he was expecting an attack from Akane and possibly Ryouga, if  
he'd shown back up yet, as soon as he got home, which is why he wasn't  
going as fast as he normally did on this last house-call. He'd still  
arrive where he was going before the 'thirty minutes or it's free'  
deadline had rolled by so he didn't really care if the ramen had cooled  
slightly by the time he got there. Various pedestrians, not that there  
were many out now that it was later in the evening, still shook their  
heads in disbelief as he hurtled past them on the fence-tops.  
  
After several minutes he arrived at the apartment building he was  
looking for and entered behind somebody else, then ran up the two  
flights of stairs to the floor the customers were staying on, which was  
as high as the cheap sub-complex went. Room 3-2 was just to the right  
when got to the top, and he found that it was slightly ajar when he  
knocked sharply on the wooden door. When nobody answered, he pushed his  
way inside, still careful not to spill the boxed ramen, and called out,  
"Nekohanten delivery! Your ramen is here!"  
  
The doorway opened into a hallway that lead to a series of doorways on  
either side and when he stepped forward and looked through the first  
doorway, which was on the right, he stopped in surprise. Inside were  
two men and a girl, all three staring at him. One of the men was very  
large, not only with a massive build due to lots of time lifting  
weights, but also extremely tall, around two feet taller than Ranma's  
current four feet and nine inches. He had shoulder-length blonde hair,  
obviously dyed, and had a red baseball cap put on backwards. The other  
man, who was a bit thin and only of average height, had a pair of dark  
gold-colored sunglasses perched on the end of his nose. The girl,  
however, who was short and only somewhat taller than his own height,  
with uncombed grey hair and large, light-purple eyes, looked somewhat  
familiar, causing him to step forward and study her curiously, to which  
the girl responded with a blank, vaguely unnerving stare.  
  
The thin man, who had noticed the writing on the package Ranma carried,  
gestured impatiently down the hallway. "The money is on the counter.  
Leave the food and go," he said.  
  
"Oh... Um, yes," Ranma replied, dismissing the girl from his mind. He  
went to the kitchen, which was the next room down, stuffed the money  
into the bag used for deliveries, and set the ramen on the counter. He  
noticed with distaste that the counter had pictures of naked women  
cluttered about. He'd become far too accustomed to having his own  
picture taken and stared at by idiots like Kuno and he had trouble  
believing how any real woman would be willing to go along with it. But  
they were, apparently.  
  
He shrugged, judging it none of his business, and moved to leave. He  
heard talking as he was about to go by the door to the room those people  
were in, and he slowed down, hoping to find out why the girl looked  
familiar.  
  
"Key...is leaving," said a quiet, mechanical sounding voice. The  
girl's, he supposed. Then there were footsteps, two sets by the sound,  
and a light slapping noise. Another voice spoke and Ranma recognized it  
as belonging to the thin man.  
  
"You think you can do that, having already come this far?" he asked.  
  
"Key...cannot?" said the girl.  
  
That was enough for Ranma, and he stepped forward into the doorway to  
reveal himself. He noticed that the thin man had a grip on the girl's  
wrist, and she was trying, although not very hard, to pull away. She  
wasn't actually struggling, her other hand hung limply, holding a red  
duffle bag by her side, and she wasn't trying to kick or hit the thin  
man at all; she just kept pulling determinedly on her captive arm.  
  
"Hey, what's goin' on here?"  
  
The thin man turned to look at him and scowled when he saw that Ranma  
was still there. The girl kept pulling on her arm, not turning from her  
task.  
  
"It's none of your business," said the man. "The girl is trying to  
renege on a small business agreement. Now, get out."  
  
Looking at the girl again, Ranma shook his head. "No way. Let her go,  
before I make you." He stepped into the room and took up an offensive  
stance, not one he normally used but something to indicate his readiness  
to fight.  
  
The thin man smirked slightly, then gestured with his free arm through  
another doorway, which he and the girl were standing near. The big man,  
who had been absent, stepped back into the room, having to duck slightly  
to fit. "As I said, this is none of your business," the thin man  
repeated. "However," he looked Ranma over, his eyes showing  
appreciation at the sight of an ample chest and proportionately long  
legs, which the short and tight Chinese dress accentuated nicely, "if  
you're so interested, why don't you stay?"  
  
The big man stepped towards Ranma, cracking his knuckles in an  
impressive manner, causing his whole upper body to flex in different  
areas. The man's face took on a slightly menacing expression, and he  
obviously expected Ranma to retreat through the still open hallway at  
his back.  
  
Ranma looked at him doubtfully, which caused the man to hesitate. "You  
don't even practice martial arts, do ya?" he asked. The man had just  
been walking casually towards him, not keeping a wary eye on his  
opponent at all or even attempting to hold his body in readiness for a  
fight. If Ranma had been a normal girl that probably wouldn't have been  
a problem, but the fighting stance he was in would have caused even a  
halfway intelligent fighter to be a little cautious, which the big man  
certainly wasn't.  
  
Looking confused, the big man looked over at the thin man, who was  
obviously his boss.  
  
"Don't be an idiot," the thin man sneered. "You're twice her size, she  
can't give you any trouble. Just grab her and drag her into the  
photography room."  
  
When the big man stepped towards him with renewed determination, arms  
outstretched, Ranma just shook his head in disbelief. "You asked for  
it, moron," he said.  
  
This time the big man didn't hesitate; he lunged forward, trying to grab  
Ranma. He was too slow. Ranma used his own hands to knock the other's  
arms wide, then kicked the man in the chest with carefully considered  
force. To Ranma it was a light blow, but to the other man it was like  
being smashed in the torso with a heavy battering ram. He was thrown  
backwards almost ten feet to the wall, which caved in under his heavy,  
fast moving weight. He didn't get back up.  
  
Ranma turned away from the unconscious weight lifter and towards the  
other two occupants of the room. The girl was still trying to free  
herself, but the thin man was gaping at Ranma in astonishment.  
"How... how did you do that?!" he sputtered, backing away from Ranma  
frantically and pulling the girl, who was still struggling to get free,  
in between them.  
  
Ranma frowned as he saw the girl being yanked around, noticing that her  
arm was beginning to bruise where the man was squeezing it roughly.  
"Let her go," he repeated, scowling, and took a step towards the pair.  
The man, obviously a coward, reacted to the threat as expected; he let  
go. What Ranma wasn't expecting, however, was that the girl would  
happen to try and pull away at that exact moment. Unbalanced by the  
unexpected lack of resistance, she fell backwards and dropped her bag,  
spilling the contents across the floor. Ranma glared at the man, who  
recoiled and pressed himself into the corner to which he had retreated.  
  
"Uh, right. Okay I let her go, now get out of here, alright?" the man  
said nervously.  
  
Ranma ignored the jerk and moved towards the girl, reaching out to offer  
her help in getting up. When she accepted Ranma noticed with surprise  
that her hands were very small, even more so than his girl form's, and  
very soft, quite unlike his hands or those of his various fiancées, who  
all had rough calluses from practicing martial arts. These hands didn't  
look like they were ever used to 'punish' some boy in any way, which was  
fairly uncommon. What a strange girl.  
  
He also saw that the dark bruise which had discolored her forearm just  
minutes before was now completely gone. Maybe she really was a martial  
artist?  
  
Easily pulling the girl to her feet, he suddenly found himself looking  
up slightly into a pair of pale purple orbs. Surprised at the complete  
lack of expression on her face, as well as the odd, unblinking stare, he  
just looked at her silently until she pulled away, freeing her hand.  
  
"Thank you," she said quietly. Without waiting for a response, she bent  
over and began picking her things up and placing them back into her  
handbag.  
  
Ranma watched her in confusion, noticing that she wasn't paying the  
slightest bit of attention to the man now, who was sitting silently in  
the corner and watching the both of them with an odd look in his eyes,  
one Ranma didn't like. Shrugging it off, he bent down and began to  
help, grabbing a dress and some socks from where they had fallen, as  
well as a picture. Looking around, he noticed that there was nothing  
left that looked like the girl's, and that she was staring at him again,  
this time with the open bag in one hand, the other outstretched towards  
him.  
  
He began handing her one item at a time, waiting until she'd placed it  
into the bag neatly before giving her the next. When she was putting  
the dress away he looked at the picture in his hand, which was the last  
thing of hers that he had. What it showed was a complete surprise.  
  
"You know Akane?" he asked. The picture showed a younger version of  
this girl, as well as one of Akane. They were both wearing the same  
school outfit, blue dresses with long sleeves that went all the way down  
to their ankles, and the girl was looking straight at the camera as  
Akane hugged her from the side with a big grin on her face. Akane  
looked kinda cute, actually, not at all like her usual self, even though  
the picture was a year or two old. The building behind them in the  
picture confirmed that guess, with the words 'Mamioda Junior High'  
written on the side.  
  
Tearing his eyes away from the picture, he saw that the girl was still  
looking at him, her hand held out and awaiting the picture. He handed  
it to her, then repeated, "You know Akane?"  
  
This time she nodded slightly. "Akane is Key's friend," she said.  
The picture put away, the girl closed her bag and then looked at him  
again, arms held in front and hands wrapped around the handle to her  
oversized purse.  
  
After a moment of wondering why the girl apparently referred to herself  
by name and what she was looking at him for, he said, "Okay," gave one  
last glare to the man still huddled in the corner, and turned around to  
leave. He heard the girl follow.  
  
When he walked out of the building he looked over at the girl again, to  
find her staring back at him calmly. "Um... what?"  
  
"Do you know where Akane is?"  
  
"Yeah." Remembering the clothes packed into her bag, he asked, "Why,  
are you here visiting her?"  
  
"Key would like to see Akane again," she said quietly.  
  
Was that a yes? He guessed so. "Okay, follow me." He jumped up onto  
the nearby fence and started back towards the Nekohanten, being sure to  
keep his pace at a normal walk so she could keep up. Key followed  
without comment, staying right beside him.  
  
After a few minutes of throwing glances at her, expecting her to say  
something about his travel methods, he relaxed a little and enjoyed the  
silence. It was different, walking along side this girl. Normally it  
would be Akane on the ground, and even when she was quiet he had always  
been able to sense anger or annoyance from her. For some reason his  
fiancee always seemed to think he was showing off when he fence-walked,  
rather than just accepting it as balance practice as he'd told her it  
was. This girl, though, seemed to not care where he was walking despite  
the occasional odd looks from other pedestrians, which weren't always  
directed just at him.  
  
After a minute or two of walking they arrived at an intersection, and  
rather than jumping down from the fence and walking across the street  
normally, he leapt over the road and onto a fence on the opposite side.  
Looking back to see Key's reaction, he continued as normal. All she did  
was look both ways to make sure there weren't any cars coming, and then  
sped up slightly to catch up. When she did catch up he was almost  
halfway to the next intersection and she just slowed down and kept  
walking at his pace without any complaint. What an odd girl.  
  
He was glad that he'd come across her, though. Key was the perfect  
distraction for when he got home. Akane would probably be so happy to  
see her friend that she'd completely forget about pounding him for  
whatever unspeakable sins she was sure he had been committing in her  
absence during the day. Now if he was really lucky he could get out of  
having a fight with Shampoo or Mousse before leaving work.  
  
This continued for almost a half hour before they got close to the  
Nekohanten. Coming to a halt, he looked down at her. "Stay here,  
okay?"  
  
She stopped beside him. "Key understands," she said.  
  
With that, he dashed forward, letting himself stretch his legs out,  
short though they currently were, for this last stretch. He was barely  
able to get his blood to start pumping a bit faster by the time he  
arrived at the restaurant, jumping down to the doors and killing his  
momentum easily upon landing. He stepped inside to find that there were  
still a few people eating, although most of the chairs were put up and  
Mousse was attempting to mop the floor but kept bashing it into a wall,  
instead. Shampoo wasn't in sight, she was probably cleaning the kitchen  
up or something, which was a small bit of luck.  
  
Taking the opportunity for granted, he glided soundlessly across the  
floor to where Mousse was, pulling the deliver money out of his pocket  
as he did so. "Yo, Mousse! Catch!" He tossed the small bag at the  
blind boy who, remarkably enough, caught it.  
  
Mousse started to open his mouth, an angry look on his face, but Ranma  
just grinned back at him and waved. "Later!" he said, and slipped back  
out the door, in a hurry to evade Shampoo. As soon as he was outside he  
took off, taking to the fence-tops once again. A minute later he  
glanced behind him to make sure Shampoo wasn't following, then fell off  
the fence and hit his face on the concrete sidewalk.  
  
"Owww..." He rubbed his nose and wiped the dirt off his forehead. That  
had hurt, he'd been completely surprised. He hopped to his feet then  
looked over at the Key, who had stopped a couple of feet from him. He  
studied her carefully for a minute, noting that her breath was calm and  
even despite the speed the two of them had been running. So was his, of  
course, but that was normal. This girl's speed and healing ability were  
definitely not.  
  
Giving her one last look, he jumped back onto the fence and took of  
towards the Tendous, pushing himself to go as fast as he could without  
growing tired. He kept an eye on her as he ran, and saw that she kept  
up just as he had expected she would. Shampoo was his only fiancee who  
was able to keep up with his speed, and even then she had trouble.  
Mousse and Ryouga, plus his father and the two old people could do it as  
well, but for her to do it without any apparent difficulty was really  
amazing. He wondered how good a fighter she was.  
  
A few minutes later he arrived at home and dropped down to the sidewalk  
easily, letting himself and Key in through the front door soon  
afterwards. "I'm home!" he called out, making a beeline for the  
kitchen.  
  
Sure enough, there was a kettle of water on the stove with the eye set  
to LOW, just hot enough to trigger the change. He dumped the contents  
on his head and felt himself grow taller, his muscles grow and his body  
suddenly feel more powerful, and a few other things he didn't really  
like to think about change in certain ways. It wasn't until he heard a  
slight gasp that he realized his error. He was so used to people  
knowing about his curse that he'd forgotten that Key wouldn't have heard  
about it. Still, he was glad he'd gotten some kind of reaction out of  
her, that creepy expressionless thing she had going was kinda scary.  
  
When he turned to look at her though, he didn't see what he was  
expecting. She wasn't backing up, horrified, or staring with  
fascination, or even pinching herself. Instead, he found himself  
captured by the most soulful brown eyes he'd ever seen. Key's hair,  
previously a light gray, was now a rich brown with dark red highlights.  
Her eyes, too, were brown, almost black with the way they seemed to suck  
light in. Her face, though, looked entirely different. Before, it had  
been stiff and pale, completely expressionless as her wide-open eyes  
stared forward without any sign of what she felt or was thinking. Now  
her eyes were filled with tears, her mouth turned into a small smile,  
her face filled with warmth and happiness. It was a warmth he knew.  
  
"Key-chan?" he whispered.  
  
"Ranma-chan!" she replied, throwing herself forward and wrapping her  
arms around him, holding tight.  
  
Completely stunned, he accepted the hug without the slightest  
hesitation, his hands slipping past her waist and pulling her to him.  
She was smaller now, the top of her head coming up to his nose, and the  
difference in height made things awkward, but he didn't really notice.  
It was Key-chan. He hadn't seen her in years.  
  
She pulled back slightly and he let her go grudgingly, missing the  
closeness he'd had with his best friend when they were younger. She  
looked up at him, still smiling. "Ranma-chan, I've-"  
  
"Pervert!"  
  
Ranma's head whipped around in surprise, not at all expecting that voice  
to intrude so suddenly, and he saw the approaching mallet. He pushed  
Key away quickly, and then it hit him in the face, and he was thrown  
across the kitchen and into the wall. The last thing he saw before  
everything faded away was Akane's angry face and red, flaring aura.  
  
  
To be continued.  
  



End file.
